I hear a lot of confusion about how to backup your Silhouette Studio library to prepare for an update, a random library corruption, the inevitable hard drive crash, or to move it to a new computer. And that’s not surprising because it is a super confusing and somewhat fluid topic. I’ve created this page to compile everything you need to know (and probably more), in one place.
Your Silhouette library contains 4 components:
- the digital files you have purchased from the Silhouette Design Store (SDS) and their previews
- the digital files you have personally created and saved to the Library and their previews
- 3rd party digital files you have uploaded to the Library and their previews
- your Library folders, arrangement and any keywords or descriptions you have input
There is virtually no risk of permanently losing your SDS files. They can always be recovered from Silhouette, but other files and your library structure are vulnerable and require your attention to back them up, regularly, and especially before any software update.
So that updates don’t catch you by surprise, go to Preferences, Updates and set Check for Updates to “Never.” Autoupdate is not reliable anyway, and you don’t want to update until you hear from the bleeding edge adopters that its OK. With autoupdate off, you’ll need to go here to find out when new updates are available and to download them.
There are 4 basic methods of backing up your Silhouette Library, and there are pros and cons to each. I recommend you faithfully use at least 2 of these backup methods.
- Use Silhouette’s library export function
- Manually copy the local library folders
- Save files out of the library as .studio or .studio 3
- Save to the Silhouette Cloud
Each of the first 3 methods listed above will generate a file or files that you need to keep in a safe location apart from the hard drive that you already have Silhouette Studio installed on. Some examples of a safe location would be an external hard drive, a thumb drive (USB stick) or an independent cloud service like Dropbox. Also make sure you will remember where that “safe location” is, in the event you need to recover those files from your backup.
Library Export
Silhouette’s library export function is available in version 3 or later. The upside to this method is that it is an officially supported backup method and is designed for this purpose. The downside is that it is somewhat confusing, doesn’t always work on export (or worse, on import), and requires Silhouette server intervention to restore. There is no individual file access with this method. All that is saved is an encrypted archive with a .library extension.
To export your library in version 3.0-3.6.xxx, choose File>Library>Export Library, choose a location and save. For more details and screen shots see this Silhouette School tutorial (v3.0-3.6).
To export your library in 3.7 or higher, open your Silhouette Studio Library, right click (command click on Mac) on Local User and select Export ‘Local User, ’choose a location and save. Also right click on your email address and select Export ‘<your email address>,’ choose a location, and save. For more details and screen shots see this Silhouette School tutorial v 3.7+
Silhouette America FAQs on exporting and restoring your library are here.
Manual copy
The “underground” method you may have never heard of is to manually copying the encrypted library folders that Silhouette Studio buries locally on your hard drive. The disadvantage is that it is not officially supported and can be intimidating if you are not computer savvy. Like the export method, there is no individual file access. The advantage is that it is very reliable when done correctly and does not require Silhouette server intervention to restore.
To manually copy your library in Windows:
- Press the Windows key (lower left, between ctrl and alt) and the r key on your keyboard simultaneously
- Type %programdata% into the Run box
- Press Enter
- In the folder that opens, find the folder named com.aspexsoftware.Silhouette_Studio.8 and copy it (in tact with all its sub-content) to the safe backup location of your choice
To manually copy your library on a Mac:
- Close your Silhouette Studio software
- Open the Finder
- Press command + shift + g
- Type in /Library/Application Support
- Press Go
- In the folder that opens, find the folder named com.aspexsoftware.Silhouette_Studio.8 and copy it (in tact with all its sub-content) to the safe backup location of your choice
Should you need to restore your library from these manually copied backups on Mac or Windows, you will need to navigate to the same respective locations and overwrite the existing folder with your backup copy. Do this with extreme care, of course.
Save as .studio
The third method, saving files to .studio or .studio3 format, is the most time consuming, but the most intuitive, because you have individual files you can open, edit or organize when you are done. The only real downside to using .studio(3) format files is the inability to view the contents of the file without opening it (or at least dragging it over the mat), as they only carry the generic Silhouette icon.
To save as .studio
- Open a new file in Silhouette Studio
- Go to the Library
- Merge the desired Library file into your new file
- Select File>Save As>Save to Hard Drive, choose a name and location, and save.
For more details see this Silhouette School tutorial
Tip: Windows users backing up from pre-cloud versions may be able to take advantage of a bulk export utility available here.
You should know that experienced users, such as myself, routinely save to .studio format as their primary method of saving files, instead of saving to the Silhouette library. I recommend this approach, especially if you are just starting out, because you avoid library and cloud issues (which are many of late) altogether. I really only use my Silhouette library for SDS files and frequently used personal files.
Tip: You can go to Preferences>General and select Hard Disk as your default save location.
Tip: Mac users can tag .studio files under Get Info to aid in searching
Tip: Mac users can manually add thumbnails to their studio files using this process (video tutorial)
Tip: 3rd party tools, such as SewIconz, are available to add thumbnails to studio files in Windows.
Silhouette Cloud
Lastly, you can save your files to the Silhouette Cloud, an option for anyone using version 3.7 and higher. Indeed, if you are using a cloud version then your Silhouette Design Store files are already backed up on the Silhouette Cloud, as well as on all the other computers you have logged in to your Silhouette Cloud account. Saving your non-SDS files to the Silhouette Cloud is optional. The pro is that it makes keeping your files synched across multiple devices effortless.
The cons are that Silhouette’s cloud system has not yet proven reliable (even the data files themselves seem too fragile at this point) and that your files are now in Silhouette’s hands, though they have pledged to protect your privacy, of course. There is also a limit to the total space your personal files can take up before you are charged for storing them there. Personally, I would not use and do not recommend this method. Even for making files accessible across devices I prefer to save .studio files to Dropbox.
Per Silhouette (https://www.silhouetteamerica.com/printer-friendly/faq/silhouette-cloud-overview)
“Silhouette America’s Cloud Storage is a syncing service rather than a backup service. Files deleted locally will be deleted on the cloud. We strongly recommend users save important and/or valuable files to another location outside of the cloud or local library, or to a third-party backup service.”
To move a personal file to the Silhouette Cloud, open your Silhouette library and drag the desired file(s) from the library window on the right, to the <your email address>>Library>User Designs folder on the left.
What else
While my focus here is the Silhouette Library, be sure you have also backed up your fonts, any .studio, .studio3 and SVGs you have created or downloaded, and any custom settings. If you are a Mac user, I suggest setting up Time Machine to backup these things automatically for you.
